Dragon Senses
by jezabel1971
Summary: Lucy learns just how much Natsu's dragon senses tell him about people, especially when they don't want him to know something. Rated for future chapters which will, of course, be lemon flavored. Mainly NaLu, with some GaLe thrown in.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: I don't own any of this, of course, Hiro Mashima does. I haven't written anything in years, but the Fairy Tail characters are just too irresistible.

UPDATE: A guest reviewer commented on spoilers in the story so, just to make sure people are aware, there are minor spoilers throughout this thing, up through the Grand Magic Games arc.

Chapter 1

Natsu's nose twitched and he stiffened slightly, resisting the urge to groan and slam his head into the table in front of him. The scent of arousal coming off of his pretty blonde partner was unmistakeable. He turned his head slightly to look at her, sitting at the bar and completely absorbed in the book in front of her. Fuck. She must have gotten another one of THOSE books from Erza.

He loved his guildmates, all of them. He truly did. He couldn't help but wonder sometimes, though, if they ever really thought certain things through. Natsu was no where near as dense and naïve as most people thought he was, he just kept a lot of things to himself. Everyone knew that the dragon slayers had extremely heightened senses, they just didn't think about what that actually meant. He'd learned years ago that his nakama had convinced themselves that he wasn't able to hear them if they spoke quietly, especially if he was in the middle of a guild-wide brawl. He'd overheard so many "secrets" during those times, it was actually a small part of the reason why he was always starting fights with Gray. His nakama benefited from the situation, too, since they so often took advantage of his "distraction" to unburden themselves to someone they trusted.

It was his sense of smell, though, that everyone tended to ignore the most. Natsu couldn't help but wonder if he would even survive the rage of the females in the guild if they really understood just how much he knew about them, just from the changes in their scents. He knew when they were on their periods, he knew when they were attracted to someone, he knew when they'd been spending time getting close to someone and when they'd actually had sex. He also knew who'd they'd been with. He even knew when one of them was thinking naughty thoughts, like Lucy was currently doing. He couldn't help it, such things were obvious to him. His apparent obliviousness to the opposite sex was out of sheer self-preservation.

Lucy shifted in her seat, reacting to what she was reading, the air currents in the room sending more of her scent in Natsu's direction. He tensed again, clenching his fists under the table, trying desperately to maintain his control. He wanted her, badly, but he didn't know how she felt about him, so he refused to act on his desires. He knew she found him attractive and even desirable, but he wasn't the only man she'd reacted to over the time they'd known each other, so he kept his feelings to himself.

He'd never had such problems before she came along. The girls he'd grown up with in the guild were his sisters, including Lisanna, and he'd never been interested in any of the fangirls who just wanted to be with Fairy Tail's famous Salamander. Lucy was different and had been ever since he first met her. The mages of Fairy Tail tended to lose most, if not all, of their clothes whenever they were in a serious fight and Lucy was no exception. She was, however, the only one that Natsu couldn't help but stare at when her clothes were mostly gone and they weren't in the middle of a battle. She was also the only one he'd ever touched even remotely intimately. Covering her bare breasts with his hands was one of his fondest memories, even though the experience had made it exponentially more difficult to keep his hands off of her since then.

"Fuck!" he heard a low voice mutter, echoing his own thoughts. He looked over at Gajeel, on the other side of the hall, watching Levy with the same intensity that Natsu had been staring at Lucy with. She was also at the bar, sitting near Lucy, and equally absorbed in a book. He smirked slightly, realizing that Levy must have also received one of Erza's books to read. No matter where the dragon slayers sat in the guild hall, the scents of everyone in the large room would eventually reach their sensitive noses. Natsu had been so focused on Lucy's enticing scent, he had basically ignored Levy.

"You wish," he said softly, knowing the other dragon slayer would hear him. Gajeel's eyes immediately left Levy to glare at him.

"Shut the fuck up, Salamander. As if your situation is any different." Natsu's smirk widened as he heard the muttered reply. Teasing Gajeel would provide a welcome distraction, since Gray was off on a mission and Happy was at another table, attempting to give Charla yet another fish. Natsu wasn't suicidal enough to risk Erza's anger, especially when she was busy eating a slice of her favorite cake as she was at the moment.

"At least Lucy and I are nearly always together. My scent is all over her and her home, too. Can you say the same?"

Gajeel simply growled in response and Natsu snickered. As long as Levy lived in Fairy Hills, Gajeel would never be able to cover her belongings with his scent the way Natsu had done to Lucy's and they both knew it.

Abruptly, a smirk appeared on Gajeel's face and Natsu immediately felt uneasy. "Maybe not, but at least I've got the balls to do something about this situation." Natsu watched, slightly horrified, as Gajeel got up and walked over to the girls.

"Oi, Shrimp!" Levy ignored him, too caught up in her book, until he yanked her off of her seat, holding her up in the air by the back of her dress.

"What the hell? Gajeel?! What are you doing? Put me down!"

He lifted her higher, turning her slightly so that they were eye to eye. "Shrimp, we need to have a discussion about inappropriate reading material in public places."

Levy's mouth dropped open in shock and her face went white then bright red. She was still holding the book she'd been reading and she clutched it tightly to her chest as she dangled in mid-air. "I-i-inappropriate? Wha-what do you mean?"

He smirked at her and reached up to tap his own nose. "Dragon senses, remember? What do you think I mean?"

Natsu watched with growing dread as Levy's face darkened even more. He hadn't known it was possible for someone to blush so hard.

"Oh, God, kill me now," she whispered, letting her head drop and going slack in Gajeel's grip.

He laughed his unique laugh in response. "Nope. No one ever died of embarrassment, anyway. Now, let's go have that talk." Still holding her up by the back of her dress, he walked off, heading out of the guild.

The show over, Natsu's attention turned back to Lucy. As he had feared, the interaction between Levy and Gajeel had been enough to pull her away from her own book and she sat there, frozen. She took a deep breath and very slowly turned to look at her best friend, the dragon slayer that she spent so much time with. Seeing her expression, torn between the fear that he knew what she'd also been reading and the hope that he didn't, Natsu couldn't help himself. He smirked at her and tapped his nose, just like Gajeel had done.

Lucy's face mirrored Levy's almost exactly, including the color changes, and before Natsu could say anything, she bolted. As he watched her run away, the implications of what had just happened actually sunk in. His best friend now knew that he could tell whenever she was aroused. He finally gave into temptation and let his head drop onto the table in front of him.

"Well, fuck. Now what?"

tbc.

Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I still don't own any of this, Hiro Mashima does.

Thank you so much for the enthusiastic reviews and all of the people that followed or favorited me or this story. I'm not the type to demand such things in exchange for chapters, but it does encourage me to write more.

Also, I'm posting the chapters as I write them, so updating will be sporadic, depending on when I have time to write. Real life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of fun things like writing this. Now, on to the story.

Chapter 2

Two days. Two whole fucking days Lucy had been avoiding him. Natsu didn't have a lot of patience and rarely bothered to exercise any self-control but Lucy tended to push his admittedly low limits in both. Granted, she was also one of the very few people who could inspire him to even attempt patience and self-control, but that was besides the point. He still hadn't quite decided how he was going to handle the situation, but was sure he'd figure it out once he saw her. Planning what to say in a personal confrontation, where he didn't have to actually fight, had never been a strong suite of his anyway.

The first day she'd been off hiding, Natsu had gone to the guild early. Not to see Lucy, since he'd known she wouldn't be there, but to confront Gajeel. The iron dragon slayer's actions had forced Lucy to face the reality of Natsu's abilities and driven a wedge between him and his partner and Natsu was thoroughly pissed off at him for it. He'd pounced on Gajeel the moment the man had walked through the doors and the fight had escalated quickly. Erza and Mirajane had realized almost immediately that the fight was serious and had separated the two before any real damage could be done. Natsu had spent the rest of the day pouting, brooding over Lucy's absence and hoping Erza would relax her watchful eye on him, so he could jump the other dragon slayer again. Gajeel just spent the day laughing at the fire dragon slayer, enjoying his predicament, especially since Levy had appeared shortly after Gajeel's arrival. She still seemed to be slightly embarrassed, but she wasn't avoiding the guild, or the dragon slayers, the way Lucy was.

Today was the second day that Lucy had chosen not to come to the guild but it was also the day that Gray had returned from his mission. Fortunately for Natsu, it hadn't been a very difficult mission and Gray was uninjured. Natsu picked a fight with him immediately and Gray knew him well enough to realize that something was wrong. The fight was a short one, only lasting long enough for Natsu to blow off a little steam. Erza and Mira had permitted it, recognizing Natsu's need for the distraction, even if they didn't know exactly what was going on.

Gajeel wasn't stupid and had very carefully timed his conversation with Levy, waiting until Mira, in particular, had stepped away from the bar before he'd made his move. The rest of the guild knew that something had happened, since Lucy had fled right in front of them, but no one except for the four directly involved seemed to know the details of what had happened. Gajeel had left with Levy before Lucy bolted, so most of the people who'd been present when she ran off were under the impression that her upset was entirely Natsu's fault. Wendy and Laxus had been there so, of course, they knew why Lucy was avoiding Natsu, but they weren't going to volunteer any information, especially since the issue had to do with the dragon slayers' abilities. Natsu wasn't volunteering any information, either.

Currently, Natsu was back at his favorite table, brooding again. He was quickly joined by the other three core members of Team Natsu that were in the guild and he sighed heavily. Great. Now that Gray was back, it was time for the inquisition.

"Alright, Flame Brain, what happened while I was gone? Why isn't Lucy here and why aren't you off annoying her like you usually do?" Natsu didn't even look up as Gray spoke, he just laid his head down on the table and groaned. Gray frowned, realizing that Lucy must be genuinely upset for Natsu to act like this. Gray and Erza exchanged concerned looks before trying again.

"I, too, would like to know what is wrong. I went to see Lucy last night and she seemed to be fine, physically, but she was very preoccupied and I didn't stay long," Erza stated calmly. "You were truly angry with Gajeel yesterday, so I assume he had something to do this. What happened?" In response, Natsu sat back up and ran a hand through his hair distractedly, still not looking at his teammates. He was relieved that Lucy hadn't been so upset that she was ranting about the situation, but her preoccupation wasn't exactly a good sign, either, as far as he was concerned.

It was Happy that got the strongest reaction from their friend, though. He was sitting on the table beside Natsu and he reached out and placed a paw on his friend's arm. Speaking to the others, he said quietly, "Natsu didn't want to tell me what happened, either. He didn't sleep well last night and kept having bad dreams. Dreams of losing Lucy."

Natsu sat up straight, startled by Happy's comment. "Hey, it wasn't like that! That's never going to happen!" He put a hand on top of Happy's head, rubbing his ears. "Don't worry so much, Happy. Luce isn't exactly pleased with me right now, but she'll get over it. I mean, yeah, I'm a little worried about it, but even if she doesn't want to talk to me, I'm sure she'd still be happy to see everyone else. She didn't mind seeing Erza last night, right?" The blue Exceed nodded, slightly relieved.

Gray wanted answers, though, and wasn't about to let it go. "So? Answer my question, idiot. What did you do?"

Natsu scowled, finally looking at Gray. "Fuck off, Ice Princess. I didn't really do a damn thing. Like Erza said, it was Gajeel. That fucking idiot couldn't keep his damn mouth shut and Lucy got embarrassed." Natsu ignored Gajeel's snide response from across the room.

Gray gave him a skeptical look. "That's it? She just got embarrassed? She's been in dozens of embarrassing situations with you. What makes this so different?" Happy and Erza nodded, agreeing with Gray's statement. Lucy didn't usually avoid Natsu like this, even after he'd accidentally seen her naked.

Natsu frowned, looking back down at the table again, debating on how much to tell his friends. He wasn't really trying to hide anything and he knew they'd eventually find out what the real problem was, but he was a little worried about what their reactions would be. Erza, in particular, could have a negative reaction and he really didn't want to deal with that right now. On the other hand, it'd be a lot worse when they realized that he'd lied to them. He sighed and decided to tell them at least part of what they wanted to know.

"It has to do with my dragon senses, alright? They tell me things about Lucy that she didn't really want me to know and now she's aware of that. She's embarrassed and self-conscious about it. Knowing her, she's probably spent the last couple of days remembering every single instance that might have happened when I could have known something that she didn't want me to. That's why I haven't tried to talk to her yet. She won't listen to me when she's like that."

He looked up again, checking his friends' reactions to his words, and cringed at the dark glower Erza was sending him. "What kinds of things, Natsu? What, exactly, have you done?"

To Natsu's surprise, it was Gray that intervened, placing a hand on Erza's shoulder. "Erza, think about what he just said. He didn't say that he'd done anything, just that he knew things. Can you help what your eyes see or your ears hear?"

Erza's expression turned thoughtful and she relaxed back in her seat, causing Natsu to breathe a sigh of relief. As much as he hated to admit it, he really owed the stripper for that one. He was still a little sore from the beating Erza had given him the day before, when she'd broken up his fight with Gajeel, and he wasn't looking forward to getting his ass kicked when she was really angry with him.

Happy piped up, asking what they were all wondering. "What are you going to do now, Natsu? How are you going to fix things?"

Natsu surpised them all by smiling at him, the first time he'd smiled in the last two days. "I'm going to go see her. Lucy can't avoid me forever and she's had enough time to freak out over this."

Happy frowned at him. "But what are you going to DO, Natsu?" Natsu just smirked at him, his eyes alight with mischief.

Gray groaned and slapped a hand over his face. "Oh, great. The idiot has a plan. Poor Lucy." Erza and Happy nodded solemnly in agreement. Natsut snickered. He didn't have a plan, exactly, but the conversation with his friends had given him an idea and he was actually looking forward to seeing Lucy now.

tbc

Reviews and comments are appreciated! :)


	3. Chapter 3

I'm not quite happy with this chapter, but I think it's as good as it's going to get. Anything else would be just minor tweaking. Let me know what you guys think, okay?

Still owned by Hiro Mashima, not me.

Chapter 3

A few hours later, Natsu was sitting on Lucy's bed, slightly impatient and waiting for her to finish her bath. He was alone, for once, although it had taken a bit of effort to make that happen. His teammates were concerned that whatever he was planning might actually make things worse with Lucy and wanted Happy, at least, to go with him. He'd convinced Erza and Gray to stay behind by reminding them that Lucy was embarrassed and having additional people there while he tried to talk to her was unlikely to help her get over that embarrassment. Their argument was that Lucy was comfortable enough with Happy to be willing to talk in front of him, in spite of her embarrassment. They finally relented when he'd pointed out that Happy was every bit as mischievous as Natsu was and had a bad habit of breaking up "special moments" with his teasing if he was around to witness anything.

In spite of the confident attitude he'd had around his friends, Natsu was more than a little nervous. He still wasn't quite decided on how he wanted to handle the upcoming confrontation with Lucy. Their relationship was at a crossroads and, for once, he was sure that the blonde was also aware of that fact. Should he push her? Force her to admit that she was attracted to him? This was a golden opportunity for him to move things in the direction that he really wanted, for them to become lovers, but Lucy was surprisingly shy and insecure when it came to real physical intimacy. His current goal was to repair their relationship, not move it to even more uncertain ground, after all.

Natsu still hadn't really decided anything when the bathroom door finally opened and his partner stepped into the bedroom. She jumped back and gave a short scream at the sight of him lounging on her bed, obviously startled. "Damn it, Natsu! What in the hell are you doing here? Can't you ever knock?" She glared at him angrily and he knew she was debating whether or not to kick him out.

Natsu looked her over, taking note of the fact that she was already dressed in her pajamas and that her eyes were on his chest, reluctant to look him in the face. "You're such a weirdo, Luce."

She growled at him, anger turning to annoyance, but she still wouldn't actually look at him. "What are you talking about? You're the one who broke in. Again."

He just smirked at her. "Don't give me that, Lucy. You got dressed in the bathroom, so you were obviously expecting me to be here." She wilted slightly and her annoyance drained away.

"No, I wasn't expecting you, exactly. I just thought, since it'd been a couple of days..." She blushed lightly and sighed, shaking her head. "Come on. I'll make us some tea." She walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen.

Natsu jumped off the bed and followed her, pleased that she hadn't put up more of a fight. "Got anything to eat? I'm kind of hungry."

She paused to give him an exasperated look over her shoulder. "You're always hungry. That's nothing new. Let me see what I can find. I haven't been shopping in a few days."

A short while later, they both sat down on the couch with their cups of tea. Natsu had quickly polished off the small snack Lucy had made for him and Lucy hadn't bothered to try to talk to him while he was eating. Natsu didn't have to wait for his tea to cool before drinking it, so he emptied his cup quickly and set it down on the small table in front of them, turning to face the girl at the other end of the couch. Lucy was blowing on her tea to cool it, very carefully not looking at Natsu.

"Luce, why haven't you come to the guild in the last couple of days?" She huffed and shot him a disbelieving look before returning her attention to her tea.

"Like you don't already know. Don't play dumb with me, you idiot. You know..." Her cheeks heated up and she trailed off, sighing and staring fixedly at her cup. "Well, you know. That's kind of the problem."

Natsu snorted, surprising her into looking at him again. "Luce, you're being stupid. I've ALWAYS known about stuff like that. Heightened senses, remember? It's not my fault you never really stopped to think about what that means. All of us dragon slayers can sense things about the people around them. Cobra can even hear thoughts. Did you really think I wouldn't know about something so obvious? You're the one who chose to read something like that in public. That was REALLY stupid. What if someone else, like Cana, had realized what you were reading?"

"Oh, God," she stared at him, horrified at the thought. "Cana would have positively humiliated me. She'd have taken the book, read it out loud, and made perverted comments. In front of the whole guild." She looked absolutely mortified at the very idea of that happening.

Natsu grinned, easily able to picture what she described. "See, Luce? It could have been a lot worse. You really were asking for it, reading something like that at the guild. You're just lucky I know how to keep things like that to myself. And that Gajeel wasn't interested in embarrassing Levy any more than he did."

Lucy groaned, leaned her head back against the couch, and thought about what he'd said. Natsu knew that she'd spent the last couple of days focused on him and what he might know and hadn't really considered anything else. He watched various expressions flit across her face as she thought, highly entertained by her growing embarrassment. Lucy was a very intelligent woman and she knew their nakama just as well as he did.

After a few minutes of thought, Lucy sighed and looked at him. For the first time since he'd arrived, there was no reluctance to meet his eyes. "You're right. I was stupid. I wouldn't have gotten embarrassed if I hadn't been reading something like that in the first place." She shook her head ruefully and drank her now-cool cup of tea. "Sorry, Natsu. I shouldn't have blamed you when it was my own fault. And, like you pointed out, it could have been a lot worse." He smiled at her in response, relieved that she was willing to let her embarrassment go so easily.

"Nah, it's okay. You're always doing stupid things, after all."

She shot him a slightly annoyed look and got to her feet. "You want any more tea?" He shook his head, so she grabbed his empty cup and went into the kitchen. As he watched, she began gathering up the dirty dishes from his snack, cleaning up the mess.

Natsu stayed on the couch and just watched her as she moved around. He sighed, more than a little disappointed, although he wouldn't let her see that. Lucy had chosen to focus only on what had happened at the guild, being caught reading a dirty novel, and had evidently decided to ignore the greater implications of what she'd realized about Natsu's senses. He had encouraged her to focus on that with what he'd said, but he was still disappointed. Natsu had always pretended to be ignorant of how she was reacting to certain things, and this had been a chance to get all of that out in the open but she had chosen to ignore the opportunity. She was choosing to continue the pretense, with both of them pretending ignorance now. It was a pretense that would allow them to maintain their close friendship, without any awkwardness, and the same way that they usually got past embarrassing situations. Just pretend it had never happened.

Natsu treasured their existing relationship, but he also wanted more than that now. He had for quite some time, actually, but he hadn't been able to figure out how to go about changing their relationship from friendship into romance. Not without taking the risk of loosing that close friendship with her that meant so much to both of them. That was why he'd never done anything about the desire that he knew she occasionally felt for him. He was afraid that if he'd acted on those physical desires, he'd end up sacrificing everything else in their relationship and it just wasn't worth it, as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to have to choose one or the other, he wanted all of it with her.

As she stood in front of the sink, washing dishes and absentmindedly humming a song, he decided to let it go for now. He was incredibly tempted to push her anyway, prove to her that he knew damn well that she was physically attracted to him, but it'd only been a couple of hours since she'd been actively avoiding him. He'd missed her terribly for the last couple of days and he wanted some time to enjoy their renewed closeness before he deliberately risked upsetting her again.

Decision made, he rose to his feet and walked over to her, standing directly behind her. He waited until she had set the last dish down and turned off the water before he spoke. "Hey, Luce?"

She started to turn towards him and froze when she realized how close he was standing. "Na-Natsu?" He hadn't been this close to her since he'd arrived and she sounded nervous and uncertain. Her reaction only proved that he'd made the right decision when he chose to wait before making a move.

He didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his body. He crossed his arms over her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder, simply holding her and breathing in her scent. After a moment, when he didn't do anything else, she relaxed and leaned back against him, enjoying his closeness and the warmth of his body surrounding her. There was nothing sexual about the embrace, but the love and affection they felt for one another was readily apparent and they both relished it.

Eventually, Lucy stirred slightly, shifting against him. "It's getting late, Natsu, and I need to get some sleep." Natsu tightened his arms slightly before letting her go and stepping back. She turned to look at him, smiling affectionately as he pouted at her.

"You'll be at the guild tomorrow, right?" She nodded and he gave her a hopeful look. "Go on a mission with me? Just you, me, and Happy?" She nodded again and then laughed as he reached out and pulled her into another hug, a quick one this time.

"Go on, then. If we're going on a mission tomorrow, we both need to get some rest." Her amusement turned to exasperation when he headed for her bedroom instead of the front door. "Natsu..."

She followed him into the bedroom and he stopped and turned to smirk at her when he reached the window. "What? I'm leaving, right?"

She glared at him half-heartedly. "Why can't you... Never mind. You haven't used the door once, so I don't know why I even bother. Just get out of here." He snickered and jumped out the window, choosing not to respond. Lucy didn't know it, but the situation between them had changed. Natsu still didn't know if she wanted him the same way he wanted her, but now he had a way to find out. He could hardly wait to see what the next day would bring.

tbc

I hope you enjoyed that. The next chapter might take a little longer, but we'll see. Review please!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: I don't own any of this and never will. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Well, this chapter didn't turn out anything like I expected. Considering how much trouble it gave me, I'm fairly satisfied with the end result, though. I do end up changing POV a bit, which I'm trying not to do, but it was the only way I could get the story to work. Oh, well. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. There's a bit of GaLe in this one, too. I love those two almost as much as Natsu and Lucy. :)

Chapter 4

The next morning, Natsu was already at the guild when Lucy arrived. She waved at him but headed for the bar, as per usual. Happy had been sitting with him, but he flew over to join Lucy at the bar, hoping for a fish. After watching her chat with Mirajane for a few minutes, Natsu casually wandered over to the request board, to look over the available jobs and see if there was anything that would match what he was looking for. He didn't find anything that really fit what he wanted, but he did see a couple of requests that he could do with just Lucy and Happy, so he chose one of them and walked over to the bar, to hand it in to Mira. He was deliberately taking his time, something highly unusual for him, and didn't even pick any fights along the way, but most of the people in the guild were busy with other things and didn't notice his odd behavior. Gajeel was, of course, an exception.

"Salamander, what the hell is wrong with you? You accidentally cook your brains or something?"

Natsu was very careful to keep his voice low enough that only the other dragon slayers would be able to hear him when he responded. "Lucy will want to leave right after I choose a mission and I want to see Levy before we go." He smirked and added, "Your girlfriend will be here soon and I want to know what she's going to say to Lucy. She usually gets here about the same time everyday, so it shouldn't be long." Gajeel immediately denied that he had a girlfriend and demanded an explanation but Natsu ignored him in favor of showing his selected job request to his blonde partner. "This one okay?" Lucy read it over and nodded, handing it to Mira to log for them. He sat down next to Lucy, asking Mira for a drink.

Across the room, Gajeel had stopped trying to get Natsu to answer him and was visibly annoyed. He had just gotten to his feet, muttering about beating some answers out of the fire dragon slayer, when the guild doors opened and Levy came in. She called out greetings to various members of the guild, but headed straight for Lucy as soon as she caught sight of her. With a whispered, "Fuck!" Gajeel also made his way towards the bar, a curious Lily trailing after him. The iron dragon slayer was still several feet away when Levy reached Lucy.

"Lu-chan! There you are. I was getting worried. Are you alright?"

Lucy laughed and stood up to give her a hug. "Oh, sure, I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I was just being silly. I should never have been reading that book up here."

Levy frowned at her as Gajeel came up beside her. She looked from Natsu, who was pretending to ignore all of them, to Gajeel and then back at Lucy. "The book? That's all? But.."

"Enough, Shrimp," Gajeel cut her off, slightly annoyed with her. "It's obvious that this idiot didn't tell Bunny Girl any of the things I told you about. And this isn't exactly the place to talk about that stuff."

Levy looked slightly abashed at his reprimand, but she was also confused. With his words, Lucy and Mira, who was blatantly listening in, were also confused but before any of the girls could say anything, Natsu decided to join the conversation. Turning to look at Levy, he asked,"Dragon senses? How a dragon slayer's magic affects our bodies?" She nodded hesitantly and he smirked at Gajeel. "Yeah, thought so." Without another word, he turned back towards the bar, picking up the drink that Mira had just placed in front of him. All three girls exchanged mystified looks, especially when Gajeel's cheeks heated up slightly and he suddenly found something across the room extremely fascinating.

Lucy reached out and touched Natsu's shoulder. "Natsu? Umm, what are you talking about? If Gajeel told Levy..."

Natsu set his drink down and turned around completely, resting his back against the bar and looking at her. "Why didn't I tell you about that stuff?"

She nodded. "Well, yeah. It's about dragon slayers and their magic and you're the dragon slayer I know best, so why not?"

Natsu kept looking at her as he responded, but most of his attention was actually on Gajeel. "Because Igneel told me that the only one who would need to know about that stuff would be a potential mate. Well, wife for a human. Are you saying you want to be my wife?"

He only had a few seconds to take in her shocked expression before Gajeel's iron rod slammed into the spot where he'd just been sitting. A fight broke out immediately, with Natsu laughing and taunting Gajeel about his version of a "love confession" and Gajeel yelling obscenities and attempting to beat the hell out of him. Mirajane squealed in delight and Lucy and Levy were too shocked to move. Happy was too distracted by the fish Mira had given him a moment earlier to comment and Lily just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

The two dragon slayers ended up dragging more than half of the guild into the fight. Levy and Lucy exchanged looks, both blushing heavily, and sat back down at the bar, quietly waiting for the fight to end. Neither of them would answer any of Mira's questions, not really knowing what to say, and the two Exeeds just sat nearby, both munching on their favorite treats. With the question Natsu had asked her, Lucy wasn't about to try to find out any more about what Gajeel had told Levy, especially with Happy sitting right beside her, and Levy was too busy thinking about the possible implications of her previous conversation with the iron dragon slayer to pay much attention to anything else around her.

After the fighting finally ended, Gajeel stomped over to the girls and grabbed Levy by the back of her dress again. "Come on, Shrimp. It seems you and I are going to have to have another talk." He glared over his shoulder at Natsu, lying in the floor near the wall to the side of the bar, before he started walking off, a silent Levy dangling from his fist and Lily flying after them.

Natsu got to his feet and spoke softly, not wanting anyone other than Gajeel to hear him. "What you did the other day fucked with my relationship with Lucy but it might have actually been helpful. I'm just returning the favor."

Gajeel paused for a moment, not wanting to say too much when Levy was so close to him and able to hear what he said. "We'll see, Salamander," was all he said and then he continued out the guild doors.

Natsu laughed and walked over to Lucy and Happy. "Luce, Happy, let's get going. We have that mission to go do."

"Aye, Sir!" Happy responded, flying up to hover near Natsu's shoulder. Lucy was a bit slower in moving to follow her two partners, not quite sure how to react after the question Natsu had asked her, especially with everything else that had happened over the last few days. Things were changing between her and Natsu and she wasn't sure she liked the changes.

"Hey, Natsu?" she asked hesitantly as she joined them.

Natsu looked at her, wondering if she was actually going to ask about the information Gajeel had given Levy after all. "Yeah, Luce?"

"We both know that Levy will eventually tell me what Gajeel said, right?" He nodded, fully aware of that fact. Actually, he was counting on it. "So, what was that really all about?"

Natsu had never been the type to sit down and patiently explain something to anyone, especially something extremely personal and knowing that there'd be a lot of questions after the explanation. He wanted Lucy to know some of the more intimate secrets about dragon slayers but it wasn't something he could really tell her himself. He wanted her to understand him and to accept all of him and she couldn't do that if he was keeping secrets from her, but, at the same time, if she understood the significance of him sharing that information with her, she'd be too caught up in what it might mean to actually listen to him. Levy telling her about her conversation with Gajeel would take care of all of it for him, but he knew that he couldn't just tell Lucy any of that. She was already uneasy and she'd just end up freaking out on him. He waited until they were outside the guild, walking towards her home, before he answered her.

"Gajeel let you know about something to do with us dragon slayers the other day that was the truth, but it upset you and caused you to avoid me for a couple of days. I'm just getting my revenge." Lucy frowned at him and he realized that she was concerned about Levy. "Luce, I may be getting revenge on him, but I wasn't lying. You remember what Zirconis said? About how it's possible for a dragon slayer to actually become a dragon?"

She nodded. "Yes, but Arcadios said that it was only possible because of Zeref."

He frowned, looking pensive, as they continued to walk. "I don't know about that. Our magic does change us, especially dragon slayers like me, Metal Head and Wendy. The others all have lacrima embedded in their bodies, letting them access and control the magic, but the three of us don't have that. The magic comes from us, is a part of us, and we are a part of it. We aren't fully human any more." He fell silent and neither of them spoke again until they reached her house. Even Happy was quiet, thinking about what Natsu had just said.

When they reached her front door, they stopped and Lucy turned to face him. "I think I understand, Natsu. Since it affects your bodies it could affect your children, so your future wife, or husband in Wendy's case, would need to know what she's getting in to."

He nodded in agreement. "That's what Igneel told me, anyway. I don't know if Metalicana told Gajeel that or not, but it's still something we don't really talk about that much. It's not really a secret, exactly, but it's kinda personal, you know? Even if Gajeel wasn't thinking about a future with Levy, the fact that he told her about that stuff still means that he cares about her a lot and trusts her."

She nodded and bit her lip uncertainly. His words reassured her as far as Levy was concerned, but she still didn't know what any of this meant for her relationship with Natsu. "Umm, well, thank you for telling me about it. I'm going to go pack, okay? The job's close enough that we can walk, but we'll need to stay over a couple of nights. Meet me back here in a couple of hours and we'll head out, alright?"

He shrugged and started to walk away. "Sure, Luce." She opened the door to the house and stepped inside. As the door began to close behind her, he paused and looked back in her direction. "Oh, and Lucy?"

She opened the door back up and stuck her head out. "Yes?" She was surprised to see that he was slightly blushing and not looking directing at her.

"You're my partner and I trust you. If you have any questions about what Gajeel told Levy, let me know. I'll answer them."

She stared at him in shock and her faced turned crimson. "O-okay. Umm, I'll see you in a bit." She slammed the door shut and he could hear her running up the stairs inside.

Happy landed on top of Natsu's head as he began walking back to their place. "Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"You really do like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, Happy, I do. I really do."

tbc

Review, please!


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: Still don't own this, Hiro Mashima does. Kind of wish I could say otherwise, though.

This chapter is a bit different, because it's from Lucy's point of view. You get to learn a bit about my version of dragon slayers, though, so hopefully you won't be disappointed. It's also the longest chapter so far. Oh, yeah. You guys aren't allowed to kill me because of where I ended it. :D

Chapter 5

A month later, Lucy was standing in front of Levy's door in Fairy Hills, knocking hesitantly. She bit her lip as she waited uncertainly for Levy to answer, half hoping the blue-haired girl wasn't home or hadn't heard the quiet knock. She hadn't exactly been avoiding Levy but, with the missions both girls and their respective teams had taken, they hadn't really found the time to sit down and discuss the dragon slayers in their lives. If Lucy was honest with herself, however, she'd admit that she could have made time for them to talk, if she had really wanted to. She just hadn't been sure she actually wanted to know what Gajeel had told Levy. Truthfully, she still wasn't sure but, unfortunately, putting off the discussion was no longer an option.

The door was opened fairly quickly, although it felt like an eternity for the girl waiting in front of it. She was rather shocked, however, when it was opened by Panther Lily, in his warrior form. "Lily? What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her, "Acting as a chaperone. Come on in, they're almost done."

A very confused Lucy stepped past him and into Levy's living room. She was even more surprised to see Gajeel, sitting in a large chair, with Levy in his lap. She was sitting with her back against his chest, leaning her head back against him. His arms were wrapped around her and he had his nose in her hair.

Lucy felt uncomfortable seeing them, feeling as if she was intruding on a very private moment between the two. As she looked at them, though, she couldn't help but be reminded of the way Natsu had held her a month ago, in her kitchen. Before she could really think about the implications of that, however, Lily spoke up.

"Gajeel. It's time to go." He still stood by the door, holding it open.

Gajeel grunted an acknowledgment and stood up, holding Levy for a moment longer before he set her down. She turned around and gave him a hug, which he immediately returned. They continued to hold each other until Lily cleared his throat pointedly, reminding them that Gajeel needed to leave.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He pulled away from Levy and reached out a hand, cupping her face. "I'll see you soon, okay, Shrimp?" She nodded and he headed towards the door. He paused when he reached Lucy. "You should have been here weeks ago, Bunny Girl. You're hurting him." The blood drained from her face and she looked away, unable to meet his eyes. He snorted at her and then continued out the door. "Come on, Cat. If I have to go, you sure as hell aren't staying." Lily rolled his eyes at him and followed him out the door, closing it behind them.

Lucy looked at Levy, still standing where Gajeel had left her. "Levy-chan? What was all that about? I thought guys couldn't enter Fairy Hills."

Levy appeared to be slightly out of it and blinked a few times before focusing on Lucy. "Sorry, Lu-chan. Give me a moment." She blushed lightly. "He really should have held me for longer and it's kind of disconcerting when he's forced to let me go and just leaves like that. "

Lucy was very confused and would normally have been asking a ton of questions, but her curiosity had been somewhat tempered by what Gajeel had said as he left, so she only asked a couple. "Are you two a couple now? Does the holding thing have something to do with him being a dragon slayer? "

Levy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Go ahead and have a seat, Lu-chan. Just let me get us something to drink and we'll talk, okay?" Lucy nodded and sat down while Levy went into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, the two girls were sitting on the couch, both holding cups of tea. They looked at each other, neither one of them quite sure where to start. Levy hadn't anticipated Lucy knocking on her door when she did and Lucy had been thrown off by Gajeel's presence in Levy's room. After a moment, Levy decided to start by answering Lucy's first question. "Gajeel and I are not really a couple yet, but we're moving in that direction. We're taking things slowly in a lot of ways. I know he cares about me, that I'm important to him, and that's enough for now. Yes, he's here because of a dragon slayer thing, but I'll explain exactly what's going on in a moment. Lu-chan, I know you have a lot of questions about what Gajeel told me. Is that really what you want to know about first?"

Lucy had already been rather upset before she even knocked on Levy's door. Gajeel's unexpected presence in Fairy Hills might have distracted her, but his parting comment had brought her right back to the main reason for her visit. She didn't know what to do about Natsu and she needed Levy's help to figure it out. She had thought she could handle being close to Natsu without feeling any attraction for him, but she had quickly discovered that to be an impossibility. It didn't help that she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she had felt desire for him in the past and he had been aware of it whenever it had happened. Every time he tried touched her, she worried that her body would react and she got embarrassed and pushed him away.

Over the past month, she had gotten so self-conscious about it that she had started trying to avoid all physical contact with him. She hadn't been obvious about it, especially at first, but the more she tried to keep some distance between them, the more he tried to get close to her. It hadn't been too long before she hadn't been able to hide the fact that she was trying to avoid being touched by him. He had finally yelled at her to stop being stupid and weird and just go talk to Levy. He had said something about blowing off some steam and gone on a solo mission, with Happy as his only company. Erza and Gray had also urged her to talk to Levy if that would resolve whatever was going on between her and Natsu. Natsu taking a solo mission was a strong indication of just how much her actions were affecting their team. Shortly after Natsu had stormed off, Lucy was knocking on Levy's door.

Thinking about what she really felt she needed to know, Lucy's cheeks reddened and she kept her gaze on the cup she was holding. "Levy-chan, how do you do it? You have feelings for Gajeel, right? How do you keep from, um, reacting to him? Especially when he holds you like that." She was too embarrassed to look at Levy, so she was surprised when Levy took the tea cup out of her hands, set it on the coffee table, next to her own, and drew her into a hug.

After a moment, Levy let her go and sat back, so that they could see one another, but she took Lucy's hands in hers, holding on to her. Lucy kept her eyes down, staring at their joined hands. "Lu-chan, hasn't Natsu ever held you like that? Holding you close and wrapping himself around you?" Lucy nodded and hesitantly looked up at Levy's face. She was blushing slightly, but didn't seem to be anywhere near as embarrassed as Lucy was. "It's not sexual when he holds you like that, right? It's warm and loving and comforting and you want it to last forever, but it isn't sexual. Right?"

Thinking about it, Lucy had to agree. "I guess so. I mean, I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe when he holds me like that, it's not, but other times...Levy-chan, since Gajeel is doing the same thing to you, is it a dragon slayer thing? And, why are they doing it?"

Levy sighed and sat back a little more but she didn't let go of Lucy's hands. "Yes, it's a dragon slayer thing. It has to do with the dragon instincts and their sense of smell."

Lucy frowned at her, slightly confused. "Smell? What do you mean?"

"Well, to a lot of animals, smell is incredibly important. It's how they identify members of the same family or pack, how they mark their territory, that kind of thing. You know about that, right?" Lucy nodded and Levy continued. "Well, humans are technically animals, but our senses are very dull compared to most animals. Dragons are as intelligent as humans but they've retained those keen senses. A lot of their behaviors, traditions, and instincts are tied into them."

Lucy was still confused. "I'm not sure I'm following you."

Levy paused before she spoke, trying to figure out a way to explain what she meant. "Think about how humans are. Our vision is pretty good and appearance is really important to us, right? Girls spend a lot of time trying to look good, especially when they're going on a date, but what if a person is blind? Do you care what someone looks like if you can't see them?"

Lucy thought for a moment and then shook her head. "I guess not. It wouldn't be that important then. So, you're saying that because dragons can smell things so well, the things that that sense tells them are really important to them?"

Levy nodded, smiling at her. "Exactly. And that carries over to the slayers. Vision is actually less important, because the eyes can be fooled. There are plenty of mages, like Mirajane, that can change their appearance. Their scent, however, almost always stays the same. It's actually a more reliable way to identify someone, if you have a sensitive enough nose."

Lucy gave the blue-haired girl a teasing look. "So that's what Gajeel was doing? Marking you with his scent?"

Levy blushed but nodded in agreement. "After he explained how important it is to him and how his instincts constantly push him to make sure his scent is all over me and my belongings, well, we went and talked to Master. He gave Gajeel a special pass to get into Fairy Hills, but there are all sorts of restrictions. He only has a maximum of 15 minutes in a 24 hour period, he can only be here during daylight hours, no kissing or intimate touching, and he has to be accompanied by someone that the wards would normally allow through. That would be one of our female guildmates or one of Fairy Tail's Exceeds. Ideally, it's someone who can make him back off, if necessary, or at least delay him."

"So, preferably Erza, Juvia, or Lily?" Levy nodded and Lucy fell silent for a moment, thinking. "So, that's what Natsu was doing to me. By not allowing him to touch me, I guess his scent has faded or something, which is why he got so upset with me. But, Levy-chan, why is it so important to him? I mean, why me and why you for Gajeel?"

Levy's blush had faded, but it came back with a vengeance. "Well, according to Gajeel, it's their instinct to scent mark the people who are important to them. The people that they want to protect. Dragons are possessive and territorial. The dragon slayers are, too. Having their scent all over someone is a way of saying that that particular person is theirs, under their direct protection. It's also a way of indicating the people that the slayers consider family. It doesn't necessarily mean that a person is a significant other or spouse, just someone that they're really close to. The stronger the scent, the closer the person is to them. Gajeel has protected me several times and actually stated that I'm under his protection. With you, well, surely you know that Happy is probably the only one who's closer to Natsu than you."

Lucy's cheeks turned red again but she couldn't deny it. Her face darkened further as she responded, "Okay, I get that part of things. It's really important to Natsu that I let him hug me and that's probably what Gajeel was talking about when he said I was hurting him. That doesn't really tell me what to do about the problem I've been having, though. How do I keep from reacting to him when he touches me?"

Levy bit her lip, not sure how to respond. Hesitantly, she asked, "Lu-chan, how do you feel about Natsu?"

Lucy hadn't expected the question and it made her uncomfortable. She pulled away from Levy, standing up and walking over to the bookshelves. Pretending to examine the books in front of her, she tried to side-step the question. "He's my closest male friend and my partner, Levy-chan. I trust him with my life."

Levy sighed, shaking her head at her. "Lu-chan, you know that's not what I mean. You've already admitted that you're attracted to him. You don't feel the same way about Gray, for example, do you?"

Lucy turned to give her a slightly disgusted look. "Ew, no. Gray's like a brother to me. I don't think of him like that."

Levy nodded, expecting that answer. "That's my point, Lu-chan. You have feelings for Natsu. Romantic feelings. Don't you?"

Lucy turned back to the bookshelves, unable to look her friend in the eye. Reluctantly, she nodded her agreement. "Yes. But I don't think he feels that way about me. It's so embarrassing when he touches me and, well, he makes me feel things that I shouldn't feel for someone who's just a friend, no matter how close we are. I could handle it when I thought my reaction to him was a secret, but he KNOWS, Levy-chan, and I just...I don't know what to do." Lucy was scared, absolutely terrified, that her feelings for Natsu would cause problems between them if she acknowledged them, but trying to deny those feelings was causing a lot of issues, too.

Seeing how upset she was getting, Levy got up and went over to the blonde, pulling her into another hug. The sympathetic embrace was enough to make Lucy lose her battle with the tears she'd been fighting ever since Natsu had yelled at her. Levy simply held her and let her cry.

It took a while but, eventually, Lucy calmed down. She went and washed her face and Levy got the two of them some fresh cups of tea. When the two girls sat back down together on the couch, Lucy felt a bit better and was ready to talk about the situation again. She took a deep breath and faced Levy. "Alright, Levy-chan. I think you had a point that you were trying to make, but I'm kind of getting the feeling that I'm not going to like it."

Levy surprised her by smiling at her teasingly. "Lu-chan, it's actually not that complicated. If the problem you're having is because you don't know how he feels about you, then you need to find out."

Lucy gave her a disbelieving look. "Not complicated? Natsu himself might not be very complicated, but I can't just ask him something like that. He's never really shown an interest in dating or girls or anything like that. I don't think he knows anything at all about women."

Levy laughed. "He knows them well enough to keep his mouth shut about certain things. He's never said a word about what his nose has told him about anyone. Not to mention, you know how our guild is. Do you really think he hasn't gotten an earful or three over the years?"

Lucy's mouth dropped open in surprise. She knew that Natsu had great hearing but she'd been so focused on his sense of smell, she hadn't even thought about that aspect of his dragon senses. She groaned and covered her face with one of her hands. Levy was highly amused as Lucy started muttering about all of the perverts in the guild.

After a moment, she dropped her hand and looked at Levy again. "Levy-chan, considering how amused you are, I'm guessing that you already have a suggestion, so let's hear it. How do I go about finding out whether or not Natsu's interested in being more than just my friend?"

Levy gave her a positively evil grin and Lucy eyed her warily. "Oh, Lu-chan. It really is simple. All you have to do is kiss him."

tbc

Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Still owned by Hiro Mashima, not me.

Happy New Year, everyone! Since I want to try to start the new year off right, here's a new chapter. I hope you enjoy it. More notes at the end, because I don't want to spoil anything.

Chapter 6

Natsu made his way through the streets of Magnolia, not quite rushing but not taking his time, either. He and Happy had gotten back in town only a couple of hours ago and they'd headed straight for the guild, just like they normally did when they got back from a job. Natsu was in a much better mood than when he'd left and he really wanted to see Lucy. The mission had been to capture a group of bandits that were terrorizing a small town and the fight had been enough of a challenge to allow him to work off some of his frustration without having to hold back too much. Several of his guild mates could give him a real workout, and some could easily defeat him, but they always had to try and keep the damage to a minimum when they fought in the guild. He'd lost most of the reward, thanks to all the destruction he'd caused on this job, but he hadn't taken it for money, so he wasn't bothered by that.

When he'd arrived at the guild, however, Lucy had been nowhere around. He'd made his report and immediately went to Gray and Erza, asking them where she was. He was surprised to find that Erza was annoyed and Gray was more than a little pissed off at him. The mission had taken him four days, instead of the one or two that had been expected, because he'd chosen to walk rather than take the train. It'd only been him and Happy, after all, so he hadn't seen the need to torture himself. He hadn't understood why they were so upset over a delay of only a couple of days until they told him that Lucy was distracted and preoccupied again and had been rather anxious about his return. Enough so that she'd told them that she needed to stay home and think about some things, which was why she wasn't at the guild when he got there.

This was rather unwelcome news, as far as the fire dragon slayer was concerned. Describing the celestial mage as "distracted and preoccupied" meant that she was freaking out about something. Erza confirmed that Lucy had spoken to Levy, so it must have been something that Levy had said that was causing her to freak out, but Natsu had no idea what it could be. Levy hadn't been at the guild, and neither was Gajeel, although Mirajane told him that they were not out on missions. With no other way to find out what was going on, he had rushed home to drop off his things and take a quick shower and was now on his way to confront Lucy. He was determined to get everything out in the open this time and wasn't going to allow her to avoid the issues between them again.

He was only a couple of blocks from her apartment when a scent caught his attention. It was Levy and Gajeel was with her. He immediately made his way over to them, hoping for some answers. They were sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe a few blocks from Lucy's place and he suspected that they were waiting for him. His suspicions were confirmed as soon as Gajeel caught sight of him and Natsu heard him warn Levy that he was coming. The iron dragon slayer had deliberately chosen a waiting place that was upwind from the path Natsu was most likely to take on his way to see Lucy, knowing that he'd catch their scent and track them, rather then the two of them having to stake out Lucy's place like a pair of stalkers.

As Natsu joined them at their table, he realized that Gajeel was every bit as pissed off at him as Gray had been, perhaps even more so, and that Levy was almost as anxious as he'd been told Lucy was. Before Natsu could say anything, Gajeel growled at him, "We heard you were finally back. Salamander, I oughta beat the shit out of you, just on principle. Why in the hell did you send Bunny Girl to Shrimp here and then take off for four days?"

Natsu opened his mouth to defend himself, but Levy jumped in before he could get a word out. Placing a calming hand on Gajeel's arm, she said, "Gajeel, stop it. I'm not upset with him, I'm upset with myself. Lu-chan that knew he'd taken a job but she didn't tell me about it until after I suggested...well, after I said what I did. If I'd known he had left, I would have waited until he was back before saying anything like that."

Natsu looked at her, more than a little concerned now. "Levy, what in the hell did you say to her?"

Gajeel snorted at him, trying to ignore the effect of Levy's touch. "Oh, hell, no. Not gonna make it that easy for you, Salamander."

Levy glared at him and elbowed him in the side. "I said stop it! Lu-chan is my friend and I want to help her." He pouted at her and she sighed, looking at Natsu. "Natsu, I told her about how important scent is to the dragon slayers and I don't think she'll try to keep you from touching her any more, but we didn't really talk about much more than that."

Natsu nodded, relieved to hear that Lucy knew at least that much, but he was slightly confused. "Thanks, Levy. That's great, but she wouldn't freak out over that. What did you say that's causing her to freak out?"

Levy turned red and squirmed in her seat, obviously uncomfortable. She looked at Gajeel and he smirked at her, shaking his head. "Oh, no. You want him to know, you tell him. I already said I'm not making it that easy for him."

She winced and looked at Natsu sheepishly, still blushing. "Well, I kind of suggested that she do something and she's had a little too long to think about it, you see. Honestly, I didn't actually expect her to try it. I really thought that you'd be the one to initiate something like that, not her. I just wanted her to think about the possibility, that's all. Maybe be a little more receptive this time, considering how she reacted that time with Asuka."

Natsu blinked at her, even more confused. "Asuka? What does Asuka have to do with anything?"

Levy turned even more red and looked down at the table. She was mumbling, reluctant to speak up, but Natsu was able to hear her. "Well, I, umm, I told Lu-chan...I told her that she should kiss you."

He gave her a disbelieving look. "Lucy? Kiss me?" She nodded guiltily and he groaned. "Well, fuck. Luce ain't the type to throw herself at a guy like that, even if it's me. If it was anyone else but you saying that, she wouldn't even consider it. No wonder she's freaking." He leaned forward, let his head drop down, and began hitting his head on the table repeatedly. After a moment, he sat back up and glared half-heartedly at Levy. "It was already a mess and you just made it worse. How do I fix this?"

Levy winced again and shook her head. "I don't really know. You know how she is when she gets something in her head. Her imagination just sort of runs wild with it. I tried to tell her to forget about trying to kiss you, that I had just been teasing her, but she wouldn't listen. I wanted to make sure that you knew what's been bothering her, though, so you wouldn't be surprised and accidentally make things even worse." Levy blushed slightly and looked down at the table in front of her. "I guess we've both read too many romance novels where a first kiss is kind of the defining moment in a relationship."

Gajeel rolled his eyes but Natsu looked confused again. "How does that work? It's a kiss. What's "defining" about it?"

Natsu and Levy were both surprised when Gajeel snorted at him in disgust. "Salamander, you really are an idiot. Besides, Shrimp already told you how to fix it." Natsu gave him a blank look and Gajeel glared at him in annoyance. "Bunny Girl is convinced that you two need to kiss in order to fix things between you but she ain't the one that's gonna do the kissing. That means you have to."

Natsu stared at him in shock and then looked at Levy. She was blushing, but she nodded in agreement. "I think he's right. I'm sorry, Natsu. I was just trying to get her to think about what might happen if she stopped trying so hard to avoid her attraction to you and actually gave in to it a little. I didn't mean to upset her even more."

Natsu frowned at them, thinking. He'd tried to kiss Lucy before and it hadn't gone very well, as everyone knew. Happy had stayed at the guild, wanting to spend some time with Carla, so he didn't have to worry about the Exceed being used as a shield this time if he tried to kiss her again, but he didn't think it was a good idea for him to just walk up to her and kiss her, out of nowhere. Lucy didn't react well to being caught off guard, especially with something like that, and he knew that she was a lot more likely to punch the hell out of him again if he tried it.

Natsu had originally thought that, with Lucy being aware of the things his dragon senses told him about her, he would be able to confront her when she became aroused by him, get her to admit that she was at least attracted to him. He knew that she liked to watch him fight, as long as he wasn't in any real danger, and that she enjoyed seeing him in any situation that tested his limits, even difficult training. There were plenty of other situations where something about him had turned her on, too, but watching him fight was a pretty reliable one. That being the case, he'd hoped that a mission would give him the chance he was looking for to confront her but it hadn't worked out that way. She'd been so embarrassed and self-conscious about her own reactions that even when she did get aroused, he'd pretended not to notice, but she'd known that it was just a pretense and pushed him away anyway.

Natsu was fully aware that Gajeel wasn't actually suggesting that he simply walk up to Lucy and kiss her, but his words could be taken that way if they were taken literally. Natsu was usually considered dense and simple-minded because he frequently either ignored the obvious or took people at their word, even if they hadn't actually meant exactly what they'd said. If it wasn't so important to him to get past all of this with Lucy and if she wasn't already in such an unhappy place, then he probably would go ahead and do exactly what Gajeel had just told him to do, even knowing that she'd punch the hell out of him for it. Natsu would be able to get a kiss out of it and he'd be able to place all of the blame on Gajeel, so Lucy would take most of her outrage out on the iron dragon slayer, rather than him. It would have been a win/win situation, as far as Natsu was concerned, but, under the current circumstances, it wasn't something he could really bring himself to do. The kissing issue aside, he was aware of the fact that he was going to have to actually sit down and talk things out with Lucy if they were really going to resolve anything, but, still, he didn't have to let Levy and Gajeel know that just yet.

After a moment's thought, he looked at them and said, "If I just walk up to her and kiss her, she'll probably deck me. How's that going to fix anything?"

Gajeel went from being annoyed to being ready to throttle him for his apparent denseness and Levy looked horrified. "Natsu, no! You can't do that to Lu-chan!"

Natsu gave Levy a look that indicated that she was the one being dense. "Yeah, I know. I just said that. What Metal Head said to do isn't going to help."

Gajeel snarled at him in frustration while Levy gave the fire dragon slayer an exasperated look. She told him, "He meant that you should talk to her first but if it looks like she's thinking about kissing you then you should go ahead and kiss her."

Natsu pondered that for a moment and then opened his mouth but Gajeel glared at him and spoke up before he could say anything. "If it wasn't for Levy feeling guilty about this mess, I'd just let you do what you want and laugh my ass off at the result. Talk to her. Then ASK if you can kiss her. If she says no and you're stupid enough to try to kiss her anyway then you deserve what you'll get. Dumb ass."

Natsu pouted at them. That bit of fun had ended a lot more quickly than he'd expected. On the other hand, he now had a perfectly valid reason for asking Lucy if he could kiss her. He'd been trying to figure out a way to accomplish that, without getting beat up, ever since Asuka had suggested it. He was annoyed with Gajeel for his insults, but decided to let it go. Lucy was more important. There was one other thing he wanted to ask about, however.

"Okay, I got it. Talk to Luce then ask her if I can kiss her. Hey, Levy?" She gave him a questioning look. "You never did answer my question. A kiss is just a kiss. Why is this such a big deal?"

She blushed, stammered, and finally said, "It's a girl thing. Don't bother trying to understand it."

Gajeel rolled his eyes again and Natsu shrugged, figuring he wasn't going to get any more out of her on that subject. "Whatever. I'm going to go see Luce now. I'll see you guys later." Levy nodded and he got up and walked away, heading towards Lucy's apartment.

As soon as his back was to them and they could no longer see his face, Natsu grinned. Levy might have refused to answer him but he'd heard plenty of "girl talks" at the guild over the years, especially as the many young girls in the guild had gotten older and become interested in guys. Based on what he'd overheard, the most likely reason for Levy to propose that Lucy kiss him, and for Lucy to seriously consider it, was because Lucy was trying to figure out how he felt about her. He still didn't quite get how a kiss was supposed to accomplish that but it meant that his beloved blonde partner wanted to explore the possibility of a romantic relationship between the two of them. If she hadn't been interested, she would have laughed off Levy's suggestion as soon as she'd spoken.

They still had a lot to talk about and a lot to work through, but, for the first time in over a month, Natsu was truly happy. He was confident now that he and Lucy would be able to work things out and end up with a much stronger, closer relationship. He genuinely loved his partner and wanted to be far more than just a friend to her. He now knew that she likely wanted the same thing and he was finally going to be able to show her how he felt. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the conversation he knew they needed to have, but the eventual outcome that he was anticipating would be more than worth it. He finally had a real chance to make Lucy truly his and he wasn't about to waste it.

tbc

More Author's Notes:

I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has reviewed. It really means a lot to me that you would take the time to not only read what I have written, but tell me what you think about it, too. Sometimes the comments in the reviews make me feel a little better about aspects of the story that I was a little uncertain about.

I hope no one is too disappointed that there was no kissing or even interaction between Lucy and Natsu in this one. I'm a bit uncertain about the pacing on this story sometimes, but I'm trying to write about the growth and development of their relationship from friends to lovers, rather than just writing smut. The sex will happen eventually, but I want it to be a part of their relationship, not the focus of it. If that makes sense.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It may take as long as a week, but probably less, before I get the next chapter out. I'm not going to promise that they'll actually kiss in the next one, but they should finally start working some things out, at least.

Review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Still don't own it, Hiro Mashima does.

****Spoiler Alert: This chapter contains MASSIVE spoilers for the Grand Magic Games arc.****You've been warned so, if you haven't gotten that far in the anime or manga, read at your own risk.

Moving on, I'm kind of iffy about this chapter. It's massively long, for me, and it's about as good as I'm going to get it, but I think they're OOC in this. Of course, this is new territory for them, so it's kind of hard to get them in character, since we don't really know how they'd react to a situation like this in cannon. It feels right to me, but you guys might disagree. Just FYI.

Chapter 7

A few minutes after he had left Levy and Gajeel, Natsu stood in the doorway of Lucy's bedroom, watching the blonde as she paced around her living room. She hadn't noticed him yet and he hadn't called attention to himself because he was trying to get an idea of what kind of mood she was in first. He smiled as he watched her, a gentle smile that was rarely seen on his face. She was pacing back and forth, thinking hard about something, and her expressive face tended to reflect her thoughts, changing rapidly as various things occurred to her. Natsu found the way she was currently acting to be incredibly cute and he was reluctant to interrupt her.

He still hadn't quite decided to announce his presence yet when Lucy suddenly let out a loud, frustrated groan and flung herself onto the couch. She rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in the cushions and he heard her mutter, "Oh, God. He'll probably be here soon. What am I going to do?"

Without really thinking about it, Natsu voiced the question that had immediately come to mind, "Who's going to be here soon?"

Lucy shrieked and flailed about for a moment, trying to see who the intruder was. Her position was too awkward for her to be able to get to her feet easily, though. Natsu snickered as she struggled, unable to get any leverage with the soft sofa cushions beneath her, and burst out laughing when she ended up falling over, landing on her back on the floor. By that time, she'd realized who had broken into her apartment, so she just stayed where she had landed for a moment, catching her breath.

Natsu walked over to the couch, peered over the back of it and snickered at her expression. "Yo!"

She glared at him and huffed in annoyance. "Natsu! Why in the hell can't you use the door, like a normal person?!" Still snickering, he walked around to her feet and held out a hand, offering to help her stand up. She huffed at him, but reached up and took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

When he pulled her up, however, he deliberately pulled a little too hard, making her stumble into him. She instinctively clutched at his shirt, trying to regain her balance, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Caught off guard, she froze in the unexpected embrace, but Natsu didn't really care. She was in his arms for the first time in far too long and he couldn't bring himself to voluntarily let her go. He buried his nose in her hair and just held her.

After a moment, Lucy's hands let go of the grip they'd had on his shirt and slid around to his back, her arms tightening around him for a moment, returning the embrace. She rested her head against his shoulder and relaxed against him, simply letting him hold her. Tension had been plaguing him ever since she had started avoiding his touch and it finally began to fade. Breathing deeply of her scent, he sighed in contentment. He had missed her more than he'd ever thought was possible and the distance that she'd kept between them had made him terrified that he might lose her after all. He desperately needed the reassurance of being able to hold her in his arms and Lucy was actually allowing it, for the first time in weeks.

Eventually, Lucy stirred, pulling back slightly. "Natsu..."

He sighed and reluctantly let her go, stepping back. "Yeah, yeah, Luce. " He looked at her and found her staring down at the floor, unable to meet his eyes. She hugged her arms around herself, as if she was cold now that he was no longer holding her so close. He sighed again and reached out a hand, placing it under her chin and gently raising her head until their eyes met. "You're being weird again. Why can't you just tell me what's going on? Why do you keep pushing me away?" Natsu was pretty sure that he knew the answer to his question, but he wanted to hear Lucy's response.

To his surprise, she pushed his hand away, took a step forward, and hugged him, hiding her face in the scarf around his neck. He returned the embrace uncertainly, a bit confused as to why she would hug him when she'd just pushed him away. Her words were muffled by the material of the scarf as she spoke but he still heard her when she whispered, "I'm scared, Natsu. I'm so scared I'm going to lose you."

He reacted without really thinking about it, scoffing at her words. "Don't be stupid, Lucy. That's never going to happen."

Slightly hurt by his easy dismissal of her fears, she let go of him and attempted to step back, but Natsu tightened his grip on her, refusing to let her go. Her hurt quickly turned to frustration and borderline anger and she leaned back enough to glare at his face. "Let me go, Natsu."

He shook his head, smirking slightly, and she began squirming against him, trying to get free. He shifted his grip on her so that he was only holding her with one arm, frustrating her even more with her inability to get away from him, and raised a hand to cup her face. Surprised by the touch, she froze, blinking up at him uncertainly. "Lucy, I talked to Levy before I came."

Her eyes widened and her face paled slightly. "Levy? Um, what did she say?"

He watched her carefully, gauging her reaction as he spoke. "Something about a kiss..."

Her face turned white and then flushed crimson. Her gaze focused on his mouth, flicked up to meet his eyes and then going back to lock on his lips. "Tha-that's not...um, I mean..." Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips and he bit back a groan at the jolt of desire that surged through him. Her reaction reassured him that she really did want to kiss him.

He ran his thumb over her cheek and then placed his hand under her chin, lifting her head slightly until their eyes met. His voice was low and husky when he spoke again. "Lucy, I'm going to kiss you unless you tell me not to." Her eyes widened in disbelief as he began to lower his head, but she didn't protest. He moved slowly, giving her time to react. He was indescribably happy when her eyes drifted shut and she tilted her face slightly to the side, leaning into his body as he closed the distance between them. His own eyes slid shut as their lips finally met.

Her hands had been on his chest, trying to push him away, but they glided up his body as the two kissed. One hand clutched his shoulder while she buried the other one in his hair, pulling him closer. Natsu slid his hand around to cup the back of her head and the arm he had around her waist tightened, forcing her body flush against his and they both moaned in pleasure at the contact.

The sound of her moan shattered something within Natsu and he broke off the kiss abruptly, letting her go and moving halfway across the room before she could even blink. They were both breathing heavily and his sensitive nose caught the smell of arousal, from both of them, that permeated the room. He hunched his shoulders slightly, clenching his hands into fists as he struggled for control. Lucy didn't know it but he was incredibly close to completely losing control and just taking her. He was pretty sure that that had been her first kiss and he knew damn well that she was no where near ready for them to actually have sex.

Lucy stood where he had left her, looking confused and a little lost. She raised a hand and touched her swollen lips, watching him silently as his breathing began to calm and the tension in his body began to fade. He had assumed a position that was highly reminiscent of a combat stance as he fought against his own instincts and she seemed to realize that he was fighting something, even if she had no clue what. She waited, quietly but somewhat impatiently, until he relaxed a bit and stood straight again, unclenching his fists.

"Natsu?" she questioned softly when he finally looked at her again. "What just happened?"

He snorted and ran a hand through his hair. "C'mon, Luce. Do you really have to ask?"

She looked confused, saying, "I don't understand. We were just kissing and then you..."

"I want you," he said, abruptly, shocking her into silence. He was blushing slightly but he looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "I want a lot more than I think you're ready for and I don't want to push you into something you don't want. Sometimes it's hard to resist my instincts and I don't want you to have any regrets."

She turned bright red as the implications of his words sank in. "I...you...what..."

He laughed as she spluttered, stunned and embarrassed by his blunt statement. With her reaction, the last of the sexual tension faded from the room and he finally relaxed completely. "Hey, you got something to eat? I didn't stay at the guild long enough to get anything and I'm really hungry."

She couldn't seem to decide between annoyance, frustration, or exasperation with the fire dragon slayer and finally settled on simply glaring at him. "How can you ignore what just happened between us? I mean, you kissed me and then you said, well, THAT, and now you just want to get something to eat?"

"Well, yeah," he said, shrugging. "I'm hungry." She growled at him in annoyance and he added, "I missed you a lot and then Erza and Gray said you were upset about something so I didn't stop to eat before I came over."

She blinked at him, surprised by his words, and her annoyance evaporated. "Oh," she said softly. "Um, okay. Well, in that case, I guess I can get you something." She gave him a slightly shy look before heading into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "I was pretty sure you'd be back from the mission today or tomorrow, so I went shopping. You usually show up hungry, after all."

He grinned, pleased that she had figured out when he would return and trailed after her. He leaned against the door frame, watching as she moved around the small kitchen, putting together a snack for him. "So it was me you were expecting? How'd you know? Everyone else was mad at me for taking so long."

She paused to give him a quick smile. "It wasn't that hard to figure out, once I knew where the job was located. It was just you and Happy, so there was no reason for you to take the train. A couple of days there and a couple more to get back, plus however long the actual job took you, so that would mean four or five days. It must not have been too difficult, since you're back today." Before he could start bragging about the mission, she set a plate on the counter and looked at him. "Come on, it's ready."

She shook her head at him, slightly exasperated, watching as he quickly inhaled the food. She refilled his plate several times before he was satisfied. As soon as he was done, he grinned at her. "Thanks, Luce. That was good."

She smiled at him in response, but the smile soon vanished and she looked pensive. "Natsu? I'm still confused about some things."

His grin faded and he adopted a serious look. "Yeah, I know. Ask your questions, Luce. I said I'd tell you whatever you want to know."

She nodded, expecting his response. "Let's go sit in the living room, then. This might take a while." She turned and walked into the living room, with Natsu following her. She sat on the couch and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to join her, but he shook his head and sat in a nearby chair, instead.

When she gave him a surprised and slightly hurt look, he said, "Don't give me that look, Luce. I came very close to losing it and I don't want to take a chance."

She blinked at him, confused, and said, "Okay, then. Let's start with that." She blushed heavily as she continued, "You said that you, um, well, want me, right?" His cheeks reddened slightly and he nodded. "Well, what did you mean about your instincts and pushing me into something I didn't want?" Her blushed darkened and, looking down at her hands, folded in her lap, she added, "It was kind of obvious that I liked what we were doing and I didn't really want to stop."

He sighed heavily and she looked back up at him. "Leave it to you to ask the hard questions first. I really wish Levy had told you about this but I'm not sure she even knows. Gajeel might not have told her about this part yet." He gave her a piercing look. "I'm going to try to explain it, but don't interrupt me. You can ask questions when I'm done, okay?" She nodded, looking slightly anxious.

"Dragons are possessive and territorial. You already know that. When it comes to taking a mate, they mate for life." He paused to check Lucy's reaction and rolled his eyes at the starry-eyed expression on her face. "Luce, it's not some kind of romantic bullshit, they're POSSESSIVE. Once they claim something, they don't like to share. That goes for males and females, both. It's possible for them to love one another, just like humans, but if they mate for more practical reasons, something other than love, they still stay together for life. Igneel said that dragons fight their mates to the death, rather than let them go, if one of the pair finds another dragon they'd rather be with. There's no such thing as divorce among dragons."

"Oh," she said, softly. He knew that she was intelligent enough to realize that in a fight between dragons, either one of them could be killed. She wasn't the type of girl to consider it romantic for someone to commit murder in order to keep someone to themselves or to be free of someone, so they could be with someone else. He didn't bother telling her that when a third dragon was involved, then the fight was usually two against one and the single dragon was frequently the one killed. This part of dragon culture wasn't particularly important anyway, since there were so few of them left. The main point that he was trying to make was just how possessive they were and Lucy seemed to get that part.

"Dragon slayers are possessive, too. It's part of our instincts, something in us that screams 'MINE', and we can't let go." Now that he was no longer caught up in desire and instincts, he was more than a little embarrassed to be talking about this stuff so openly with her. He blushed and it was his turn to refuse to look at her. "I-if we, um, you know, have sex, then you'll be my mate. You'll be mine and I'll be yours." He looked at her, unsurprised to find her blushing, too. "There won't be anyone else for me, ever, and you'll be stuck with me. I don't think I'd kill someone if you were interested in him, but I don't think I could allow you to be with him, either. We'd be together for life."

She bit her lip and looked down at her hands again. When he simply watched her for a moment, without saying anything else, she looked back up at him. "Natsu...is that really what you want? To be with me for life?" He nodded, without hesitation, shocking her. "But, how can you be so sure? We're still pretty young to be deciding that we want to be with one person and only one person for the rest of our lives."

He took a deep breath and met her eyes. He didn't like thinking about this and especially didn't like talking about it, but he had promised her answers. "Luce, think about it. You died. I saw you die and I wasn't able to stop it."

Lucy gave him a dismayed look. "But, Natsu, that wasn't really me."

He shook his head. "I feel the same as Happy. 'Lucy is Lucy.' It was Lucy that died. If she hadn't been there, it would have been you. It was so close, Luce." His voice faded and he looked down, unable to look at her.

She got to her feet and walked over to him, kneeling by his chair and taking his hands in hers. "Natsu." He didn't look at her, so she shook his hands slightly. When he finally looked at her, she spoke again. "Natsu, I'm right here. I didn't die. I won't promise that nothing like that will ever happen, because that's a promise that I wouldn't be able to keep, but I will promise that I will fight as hard as I can to come back to you. Always."

The shadows of pain and sadness that had been haunting his eyes faded slightly and he gave her a small smile. He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek, caressing her face with his thumb. "And I'll always be there to catch you if you fall. I'll always protect you. That's kind of the point, Luce. Always."

She nodded thoughtfully and got to her feet, going back to her seat on the couch. He watched her as she sat back down. She was obviously thinking hard about what he just said and he was a little concerned that the seriousness of his intentions might frighten her, so he decided to ease her mind a bit. "Luce." She didn't respond, still lost in thought, so he called her again, a little louder. "Hey, Luce." He half expected her to ignore him that time, too, but she gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry, Natsu, I was just thinking for a moment."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to decide anything yet, you know. A kiss isn't enough to tie us together as mates." He blushed slightly. "We wouldn't be mates until we actually, um, you know. Mated. It's not like you have to decide right now whether or not you want to be my mate."

"Oh," she said, softly, looking down at her hands. She took a deep breath and raised her head, looking him in the eyes. "And what if I've already made that decision?"

His mouth dropped open and he stared at her in shock. That was the last thing he'd expected her to say. "You, uh, you have?"

She giggled at his reaction, but her amusement quickly changed to sadness. "Natsu, future me wasn't the only one that died. We didn't actually see it happen, but she made it clear that you were already dead when she came to us. You died, too, Natsu. And it was so close on Tenrou Island and then again when you fought Rogue. I've had a lot of time to think, especially the last few days, while you were on that mission with Happy." Their eyes met and she blushed, speaking quietly. "I've almost lost you more than once and it would destroy me if that happened. The idea of being with you for the rest of our lives is something that sounds really good to me. It's good to know that we don't have to rush things, though."

Natsu was stunned at the realization that Lucy had just stated that she actually liked the idea of becoming his mate. He had thought he would need to spend time convincing her to agree, not have her agree almost immediately. He was so shocked, he just sat in his chair for a moment, not moving. Before he could really wrap his mind around what she had said and react properly, she continued to speak, reminding him that they still had some things to discuss before they could get around to celebrating becoming a couple.

She took a deep breath and said, "Okay, that covers the thing that you didn't think I'd want. What about the other part of it?"

Forcefully pulling his thoughts away from the images of a possible future with her that had been swimming around in his head, he gave her a blank look, not having any idea of what she was talking about.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Instincts?" she prompted.

He shook his head, ruefully. "Oh, yeah. That." He looked at her warily, not sure how she was going to take this next part. She had admitted that she had enjoyed the kiss and hadn't wanted him to stop yet and even said that she liked the idea of the two of them making what was essentially a lifetime commitment to one another, but he wasn't sure she was ready to actually move forward with cementing their relationship. Since she asked, though, he answered her question.

"I told you how I feel about you," he said softly, blushing and looking away from her again. "My dragon instincts are pushing me to claim you as mine. When we kissed, I didn't want to stop there. I wanted all of you." He stopped speaking and looked at her, staring at her intensely. Thinking of the kiss and the way it made him feel, the way she had reacted to him, the need to claim her welled up within him again. His embarrassment faded as he thought about what he wanted to happen between them. He wasn't aware of it, but the pupils of his eyes changed, narrowing into slits, like a dragon's, and his voice became low and husky again. "I want you, Lucy, in ways that I can't put into words. I want to show you, instead. Make you forget about everything and everyone except me. And I want you to need me just as much as I need you."

Lucy stared at him, obviously embarrassed and not sure how to react. He could see that she wasn't afraid of him, since he was still Natsu and she trusted him so much, but the strength and intensity of his feelings seemed to catch her off guard. She shivered as he spoke and he could smell the scent of her growing arousal in the air as she reacted to his words. His hands clenched into fists again and he resisted the temptation to go to her. Her physical reaction to what he said did not mean that she was willing to accept him as her mate just yet and he refused to force her into anything.

He continued to watch her as he struggled for control and he was surprised when she relaxed in her seat and a gentle smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Natsu," she whispered. "You're always protecting me. Even from yourself."

With her words, the pressing need to dominate and claim her died away, replaced by the protectiveness for her that was as much a part of him as breathing. His eyes slowly went back to their normal, human appearance and he relaxed back into the chair. She had so much faith and trust in him and he was reminded of his determination to be worthy of that trust. He had wanted her before any of this had started but knowing that she had feelings for him, as well, had caused his instincts to go crazy, pushing him to claim her as soon as possible, before either of them were really ready for that step.

As a fire mage and dragon slayer, control over his magic, and the instincts that went with it, was absolutely vital. He was impulsive and frequently lacked restraint but there was a difference between restraint and control. Control meant that only his hand lit up with his flames when he wanted it to and that his clothes were never burned to ashes. Control meant doing what he decided he wanted to do, rather than mindlessly following his instincts.

Restraint, on the other hand, meant setting limits and staying within those limits, something he usually wasn't very good at. Lucy, however, was one of the few people that could get him to exercise self-restraint. The limits that he'd previously set for himself, refusing to act on his desire for her, were no longer applicable now that he knew she had feelings for him and wanted him, too. That being the case, he needed some new limits, so he knew how far he could go and when he would need to stop, for her sake. Lucy was the only one who could set those new limits, though.

She was sitting quietly, waiting for him to finish gathering his thoughts and he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Luce, what do you want with me? I've told you what I want, now what do you want?"

Lucy blinked at him, startled by his question. "Oh! Um, can I ask some more questions before I answer that?" He nodded. "Okay, then. Is this going to be an issue now? The whole thing with your instincts?"

He shook his head. With his instincts now firmly under control, he blushed again. "I've never had a potential mate before, so it caught me off guard. I knew you wanted to kiss me but I didn't know how far you really wanted to take that. The kiss was enough to awaken my instincts to claim you, especially since you hadn't set any boundaries, but I've pretty much got it it under control now."

She gave him a slightly skeptical look. "That quickly?" He nodded. "Okay, if you say so. I trust you."

Confident that his instincts weren't going to force him into doing anything neither one of them wanted yet and that they'd covered most of the really important things, Natsu decided it was time to lighten things up a bit. He gave her an overly innocent look. "Hey, Luce?"

She looked at him warily, not buying his innocent act. "Yes, Natsu?"

"You think there might be something in those books of yours that we could try that might help calm my instincts down?"

He burst out laughing when her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in shock. She realized almost immediately that he was teasing her and gave him a reproachful look. "Stop that, Natsu. I was trying to have a serious conversation about this."

He snickered and shook his head at her. "Me, too, actually. I've never gone further than a kiss before so, other than, well, you know, I don't know if there's anything else that we could do that might satisfy my instincts to claim you, even if it's just temporary." Before she could really register what he'd just said, he continued. "Besides, I didn't even like those kisses. Stupid girls, jumping on me out of nowhere, just because I'm a Fairy Tail wizard." She giggled at his disgruntled look. "They didn't even smell that good." He wrinkled his nose and she giggled again while he pouted at her. "Lucy! Quit laughing at me."

She smiled brightly at him and he was incredibly relieved to see that familiar smile. It'd been far too long since she'd acted like her usual self around him. "Sorry, Natsu, but that's just too funny. The great and powerful Natsu Dragneel unable to fend off a few fan-girls."

He frowned at her slightly. "They're just regular girls. It's not like I can beat them up." A thought occurred to him and he gave her a hopeful look. "Hey, now that we're together, you can keep them off of me, right?" He waited, slightly anxious to see how she would react to his suggestion. They'd been talking about establishing a permanent, life-long romantic relationship, but they hadn't really discussed the current status of their relationship yet.

She blinked at him in surprise and flushed bright crimson. "To-together? Us? Um, well..." Taking in the hopeful expression that was still on his face, she sighed and shook her head. "Of course, you couldn't actually ask me to be with you." She gave him a shy smile. "Sure, Natsu. I'll protect you from the fan-girls."

He whooped and jumped to his feet. Before she could even blink, he was pulling her off of the couch and into his arms, swinging her around in a circle in pure joy. He knew she wasn't quite sure if he was so happy because she'd promised to protect him from overly enthusiastic fans or if he'd understood that she was actually agreeing to at least be his girlfriend, so he decided to show her. He stopped spinning them around and let her body slowly slide down his, until her feet hit the floor, her hands clutching at his shoulders. He could practically feel her heightened awareness of his body and the distinct lack of space between them. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, pulled away before she could respond, and rested his forehead against hers.

Looking into her eyes, he whispered, "You're mine, Luce, and I'm yours."

She bit her lip, slightly uncomfortable with his statement. "Natsu..."

He silenced her with another quick kiss, pulling back a little so that they could see each other better. "It's okay, Luce. I know you aren't ready for that yet. That's why I need you to set some limits."

She gave him a confused look. "Limits?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You know how far I really want to go, so how far are you willing to let me take things for right now?"

She turned beet red when she realized what he was asking her and tried to move away, terribly embarrassed. "Natsu! I can't tell just tell you something like that!"

He snickered at her expression and pulled her close, burying a hand in her hair and pressing her face into his scarf. She stilled in his arms, letting him hold her and he leaned down slightly to whisper to her. "I know it embarrasses you, Luce, but this is something I need to know. You know how I'm always going overboard, taking things too far. I might hurt you if I mess this up and I don't want that. You're too important to me. Write it down and leave it for me to find, if you can't bring yourself to actually tell me, but you have to let me know where you want me to stop."

Her voiced was quiet and muffled but he was able to make out what she said when she responded, "What if it changes? What if I decide I want more?"

He breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't going to fight him any more on this subject. "Just tell me. And, Luce?" She made a questioning noise. "You need to actually tell me when you want more, not just put my hand somewhere that used to be off limits. That's what caused me problems earlier. I knew I could do something now that you used to punch me for, but you didn't let me know how far it was okay to take it. My instincts didn't want me to stop at all. That's why the only exception to this is if you decide there aren't any more limits and you want me to go ahead and claim you." She nodded against his shoulder and he waited a moment to see if she was going to say anything else. "Luce?"

She turned her head sideways, so that her cheek was pressed against his shirt and he could hear her better. She was blushing so hard that he could feel the heat of her skin even through his shirt. "No hands below the waist and I'm keeping my top on. For now. When I'm ready, I'll take the top off, but still no hands below the waist until I say otherwise, okay? Is that alright?"

He nodded, relieved. "Got it. Now, one other thing, Luce."

She groaned, having hoped that they were done with this part of the conversation. The heat from her cheeks was beginning to fade but she still wouldn't look at him. "Yes?"

He blushed a bit but went ahead and told her what he was thinking. "Those are my limits, Luce, but you don't have any. You can touch me any way and anywhere you want."

She squeaked out a garbled version of his name and buried her face in his scarf again. He chuckled and she smacked his chest with a fist before wrapping her arms around his waist. They just stood there, holding each other for a few minutes, until Natsu decided he'd had enough of the mostly platonic embrace. He pulled back slightly and Lucy raised her head to look at him. She wasn't expecting it when he slid a hand into her hair, to cradle the back of her head, and pulled her into a heated kiss. His instincts stirred but, knowing what to expect, he was able to quell them without too much difficulty.

When the kiss ended, they were both breathless and he couldn't help the possessive look that graced his face. "Now that I can kiss you, I'm going to do it every chance I get."

It was his turn to be surprised when Lucy gave him an impish grin and whispered, "Good," before leaning up to capture his lips with hers. It looked like he wasn't the only one that was looking forward to exploring the boundaries that she had set and he returned her kiss eagerly.

tbc

Well, I hope you enjoyed that. I have absolutely no idea when I'm going to be able to get the next chapter out. Real life has decided to interfere with my fun. I was originally planning on moving next month, but my apartment complex has offered to replace the flooring in my entire apartment. That means that I have to cram everything I own into a 10 ft by 14 ft room. Right now, that's not happening, so I have to do some major packing, storing, and rearranging of pretty much everything I own. Not to mention, I start college classes in a week. I won't abandon this story, but it might be a while. Sorry, guys.

Read and Review, please!


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